Because Starbucks agrees that animal-friendly vegan milks are better for the planet but still charges extra for them, PETA protesters will descend on the chain’s store on King Street tomorrow with an extremely lifelike calf prop stuffed inside a Starbucks cup, which is guaranteed to stop shoppers in their tracks.
When: Tuesday, May 25, 12 noon
Where: Starbucks, 239 King St., Charleston
“Starbucks is milking customers who care about animals and the planet,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “Cruelty to cows aside, dairy is an environmental disaster, with its methane emissions and the destruction of forests for grazing land, so PETA is calling on the company to put its money where its mouth is and price vegan milks at or below the price of cow’s milk.”
Dairy farms are part of animal agriculture—the leading cause of water pollution, ocean dead zones, species extinction, and habitat destruction. By some estimates, it also generates more greenhouse-gas emissions than the world’s entire transportation sector.
Each person who goes vegan lowers their carbon footprint and saves the lives of nearly 200 animals every year. Cows in the dairy industry are artificially inseminated—workers insert an arm into the animals’ rectum and a metal rod into their vagina—and sent to slaughter when their bodies give out.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview.
Celebrate Ingrid’s birthday and give a big boost to PETA’s worldwide work to rescue animals who would otherwise have no hope, through your donation to PETA’s Global Compassion Fund. Reserve a spot today!
Please see the following statement from PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo regarding the California Horse Racing Board’s refusal to suspend trainer Bob Baffert, whose horse Medina Spirit failed a drug test following the Kentucky Derby. Baffert has been temporarily barred from Churchill Downs as well as the Belmont, Aqueduct, and Saratoga tracks in New York:
The California Horse Racing Board has failed horses again by allowing trainer Bob Baffert to race his at Santa Anita today. The board put no limits on Baffert when seven horses in his barn dropped dead, when he administered thyroxine to horses who didn’t have thyroid disease, and when Justify tested positive for scopolamine. Despite more than 30 medication violations, Baffert is still putting horses on tracks, and the board’s refusal to suspend the trainer is as despicable and revealing as it is dangerous.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
Sophie was a young North American black bear whose April 2019 death broke hearts all over. After escaping from her enclosure at Oswald’s Bear Ranch (a Michigan tourist trap that uses bears for exploitative photo ops), she was shot and killed when she was found—days later. Folks were outraged when they learned of her violent death. But PETA recently discovered an interesting connection regarding Sophie, and it might result in more of that same fury. (But don’t fret—we’ve got a place for you to channel all your disgust for Oswald’s.)
Before she was killed, Sophie was kept in a cage with two other young bears, Ashley and Sassy. All three were observed pacing and crying out, and Sassy has been seen repeatedly chewing on a cage—all signs of severe distress.
We knew that Sophie arrived at Oswald’s from Animal Entertainments Inc. (a dealer in Wisconsin) that had acquired her from Nick’s Barnyard Buddies (a roadside zoo in Missouri). We thought she had been born at Nick’s, but new information has offered up a different possibility that’s perhaps even worse. Yellowstone Bear World (a seedy Idaho exhibitor that breeds baby bears and then terrorizes them for money) actually sent some bear cubs to Nick’s just two days before Sophie arrived at Animal Entertainments Inc. So she may have been born at Yellowstone Bear World in Idaho, trucked to Missouri, then shipped off to Wisconsin and later carted to Michigan (and subsequently kept in a concrete pen, exploited for photo ops, and shot and killed). Why would this be worse than her having being born at Nick’s? What we’d thought was roughly an 880-mile journey may have actually been a 2,200-mile trek over just three days—all while baby Sophie should have been safe and comfortable at her mother’s nurturing, protective side.
These tourist traps’ shoddy recordkeeping means that we’ll probably never know for sure whether Sophie was born at Yellowstone Bear World. But that it’s even a possibility is testament to how horrific the cub-petting industry is.
Oswald’s Bear Ranch: Making Bears Cry and Die for Years
We can confirm plenty about the place where Sophie spent most of her short life:
Oswald’s Bear Ranch has slaughtered at least six bears and euthanized at least one for being “mean.”
A representative of the facility said that such bears should be “made into jerky.”
Despite marketing itself as a rescue facility, the roadside zoo didn’t take in a single wild orphaned cub between 2011 and October 2018. It has, however, bred 13 cubs in the past 25 years and purchased or received 73 others for use in photo ops, including three acquired last year from the same dealer in Wisconsin. (But we may never know where they were born.)
Before Sophie’s premature death, PETA obtained damning video footage showing her, Ashley, and Sassy pacing and crying out:
In nature, bear cubs spend their time playing, exploring, and socializing with one another and their mother. But at Oswald’s, cubs are used for photo ops, which are highly disruptive and can result in long-term psychological stress. When not being used as props, these juvenile bears are confined to concrete-floored enclosures, which can be especially damaging to their fragile bones and muscles and lead to painful and debilitating joint problems as they age.
Oswald’s Bear Ranch Is a Death Trap—Take Action Now!
No animals should ever be confined to cramped cages and forced to suffer just so humans can take photos with them (or for any other reason). Don’t let Oswald’s continue to get away with this exploitation—click below to urge the roadside zoo to send the remaining bears there to accredited sanctuaries before more of them die:
Beauty with a vegan purpose—that’s what the newly crowned Miss Universe, Miss Mexico Andrea Meza, showed the world at the 69th annual pageant. As a proud vegan and winner of one of the four major international beauty pageants, Meza has put the spotlight on animal rights on a global stage—and PETA is here for it!
When Meza isn’t claiming international beauty pageant titles, she’s sharing her love for vegan meals with her 1.6 million Instagram followers. (She’s also a software engineer and an activist against gender violence—is there anything she doesn’t do?)
The Mexican sweetheart has advocated for going vegan for animals and the environment. We couldn’t agree more. The cruel meat and dairy industries tear babies away from their mothers; pack animals into crowded, unsanitary sheds; deny them the space they need to stretch and move around; and slaughter them by the billions. In addition, animal agriculture is, by some estimates, responsible for more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the world’s transportation systems combined. So PETA is very pleased that the 69th Miss Universe is calling attention to the benefits of going vegan.
Meza has even encouraged her followers to adopt animals instead of shopping for them. This is wonderful news for cats and dogs everywhere who eagerly await adoption in animal shelters or struggle to survive on the streets because they have nowhere to go. Refusing to buy from breeders is just one of the ways we can help end animal homelessness, and we’re glad Meza is using her large public platform to speak up for companion animals.
Go Vegan Like Miss Universe!
Don’t wait for the stars to align—be like Meza and go vegan today. You can start by taking the vegan pledge and ordering one of PETA’s free vegan starter kits:
